Boxing Day: ‘People desire peace. Let us pray for peace’ – Pope Francis

In his message on Boxing Day for “peace”, Pope Francis said, “people desire peace. Let us pray for peace.”

Pope Francis delivers his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing from the central loggia of Saint Peter's Basilica on December 25, 2023 in Vatican City, Vatican
Pope Francis delivers his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) blessing from the central loggia of Saint Peter’s Basilica on December 25, 2023 in Vatican City, Vatican. Photo: Getty Images

Pope Francis said: “Saint Stephen, the first martyr or ‘witness’, was the first among a multitude of brothers and sisters who still today continue to shed light in darkness: people who respond to evil with goodness and break the spiral of hatred with the gentleness of love.


“I am close to Christian communities that suffer discrimination. I urge them to persevere in charity towards all, striving peacefully for justice and religious freedom.


“To the intercession of the first Martyr, I entrust the plea for peace of peoples torn apart by war. We have witnessed Syria; we behold Gaza. Let us think of martyred Ukraine. A desert of death. People desire peace. Let us pray for peace. Let us strive for peace.”

Pope Francis delivers his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing from the central loggia of Saint Peter's Basilica on December 25, 2023 in Vatican City, Vatican

Pope Francis delivers his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing from the central loggia of Saint Peter's Basilica on December 25, 2023 in Vatican City, Vatican

Pope Francis delivers his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing from the central loggia of Saint Peter's Basilica on December 25, 2023 in Vatican City, Vatican

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